Application of lean practices in higher education institutions (HEIs): bibliometric analysis from 2010 to 2023

Purpose The following research examines a wide range of studies on the implementation of the lean approach in higher education institutions (HEIs) between 2010 and 2023. This analysis aims to address particular questions: Q1. What are the current publications on the use or implementation of lean practices in the area of HEIs, taking into account factors such as paper quality, scientific journals, author participation and comparison with major scientific databases such as SCOPUS and WoS? Q2. What are the groupings according to authors and keywords? Q3. What are the perspectives of research and author productivity in the context of lean thinking in HEIs? Q4. In which areas will possible future research be directed? Design/methodology/approach This paper compares Scopus and WoS databases based on factors such as publication pattern, document categorization, most prolific contributors and citation analysis. The paper analyzes primary sources, author productive efficiency, worldwide bibliographic references, terminological evolution, thematic representation and visualization of international collaborations using the WoS and Scopus sets. R Studio software, together with the Bibliometrix package, was used for processing and analysis. Findings In the academic literature, the adoption of lean practices in HEIs is a growing trend. The International Journal of Lean Six Sigma was found to be the main source publishing research in this field, according to an analysis of databases such as WoS and Scopus. The first to make scientific contributions in this area were the United States and Brazil in geographical terms. At the individual level, Antony Jiju stands out as the most prolific researcher, with a significant accumulation of works in this field over time. Originality/value This study generates a great contribution to the literature by mapping the field of application of the lean philosophy in HEIs.